Toothbrush holders that provide an incentive for small children to brush their teeth for a predetermined period of time are known in the art. These prior art toothbrush holders have the face of an animal or character shown at the front of a box and a hand holding a small toothbrush on one side of the face. The hand moves the toothbrush over a mouth portion of the face to animate the act of brushing one's teeth. Also, these devices are activated by removing the toothbrush from a receptacle or shifting the position of a control tab, and deactivated automatically after a predetermined time period has lapsed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,926,487 to W. V. Stone, which issued on Mar. 1, 1960, U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,666 to W. V. Stone, which issued on Feb. 20, 1962, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,234 to A. Stubbmann, which issued on Dec. 21, 1976, provide various toothbrush holders having visual displays for animating the operation of brushing one's teeth. In particular, a stationary representation of a character's face, prominently displaying its teeth, is provided with a dynamic representation of a miniature toothbrush that moves back and forth over the character's teeth. These toothbrush holders include a timer for terminating the animated operation after a predetermined time period has expired. The tooth brushing operation is animated for a predetermined period of time to indicate to a child the proper period of time for brushing his or her teeth.
In addition, teeth brushing-related products having a timer device to indicate a time period of sufficient brushing time are also known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,415 to S. M. Grusmark, which issued on Jun. 6, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,755 also to S. M. Grusmark, which issued on Feb. 12, 1991, provide various timers mounted on a toothpaste dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,415 discloses an hour glass timer containing sand to track the amount of brushing time.
The devices disclosed in the above-mentioned patents do not, however, provide an effective means for inducing a child to brush his or her teeth for a reasonable period of time. That is, none of the above patents provide a timing mechanism that includes an amusing or entertaining visual display that captures the attention of the user, particularly a child, while providing continual feedback to the user about the time remaining for brushing his or her teeth. One problem is that the repetitive motion of moving a toothbrush back and forth over a character's teeth can lose the attention of the child, particularly a very young child. Also, a simple hour glass generally does not capture the attention of a child. Another problem is that the child's mind begins to wander during tooth brushing operation since the time remaining is unknown to the child.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a tooth brushing timer device which is capable of presenting an amusing visual representation of the time required for a child to brush his or her teeth. The timer device captures the attention of the user by providing an entertaining face having color-changing teeth in which the teeth change between two distinct colors. When the timer device is activated, the teeth gradually transform from, for example, a non-white color to white over a predetermined period of time. Such a novel device continuously provides the user with visual feedback relating to the time period for brushing his or her teeth. In particular, the ratio of the two colors covering the teeth is proportionate to the ratio of the time expired and time remaining for the tooth brushing operation. Thus, by knowing the time remaining for the tooth brushing operation, the child may pace themselves for brushing each portion of their mouth and anxiously anticipate the moment when the tooth brushing operation will end.